


Reminisce

by Jammy



Category: Neopets
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/M, Friendship, I dont want to put a specific thing in the characters because it's spoilers but ey, M/M, Sci-Fi, Sorta kinda, maybe later - Freeform, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 23:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9294575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jammy/pseuds/Jammy
Summary: It's been a few months since Cale has came to Kreludor and began this mission of his. On one of his routine training days an acquaintance of his just vanishes below the ship to seclude herself.He wonders then, what would make a giddy girl like her look so depressed?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [t3f3r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/t3f3r/gifts).



> I really like this story, it takes place in mine and my sister's "Interstellar" verse. In this story I tried to tone down on the swearing because I was determined to put this in the Neopian Times buuuuuut that ain't gonna happen.....I don't think.
> 
> Anyways, without giving away any spoilers, Cale is a blue gelert from the Thieve's Guild who comes to Kreludor to investigate the Thieve's faction there--called 'Firefly', that disguises itself as a charity group. 
> 
> And that's pretty much it, enjoy! <3

“Where’s Agent Four?” Cale and Sun-Hi both looked up from where they sat, in the middle of the cockpit on one of Firefly’s bigger ships at a computer terminal. This one specifically was used for training or for delivery and shipment assignments, this time the ship was run under Agent Maine to deliver some resources to another base on the other side of Kreludor. Cale never really spoke to Agent Maine before, the camouflaged Lenny didn’t really look like an approachable character most of the time but the few instances that they did speak together it didn’t end in any fights, which was a good sign right? The blue gelert and the blue gnorbu looked at each other with raised brows, Cale was the one who spoke first asking who–or what–was Agent Four. “Agent Four? Jay-dash-four-ehm?” seeing the blank look on Cale’s face the Lenny growled, already losing patience, “ _Jam_. I’m looking for _Jam_.”

 

“Oooh!” Cale gasped and looked over at Sun-Hi who was now pressing the buttons on the face of the control panel, it took a few seconds before something came up on the screen and it looked like that someone was at the bottom of the ship, maybe that was her?

 

“She’s on floor zero.” Something flashed behind Maine’s golden eyes, to Cale it looked as though he was….worried? It wasn’t really an emotion that Maine showed freely, not to his friends and surely not to other comrades and aquaintances. At the moment that he realized he dropped his guard Maine quickly shook his head to get back to the present, asking Sun-Hi how long Jam’s been down there. Sun-Hi looked back at the screens, pressing a few more buttons and looking over the data but shook her head shamefully. “It’s hard to say sir, but knowing her as well as you do I’d have to say she’s been down there for more than an hour already.”

 

“What’s floor zero?” Cale asked slowly looking between back and forth from the lenny and the gnorbu. Maine crossed his arms over his chest with a slow and annoyed sounding sigh, though he went through the whole explanation of it being the small room on the bottom of the ship that is controlled to stay in zero-gravity so the ship doesn’t teeter over and stay sideways while out in space. “Sort of like a ballast on a ‘normal’ ship, then?”

 

“Very similar, the only time that it gets gravity is when we get back into dock.” Sun-Hi answers now waving a free hand nonchalantly over the camera over-looking floor zero. “The problem of going down there is that you’re exposed to zero gravity. Being exposed to zero gravity for so long can cause major bone and muscle deficiency and even equilibrium problems. That’s why most teams have a limit of fifteen minutes a day down there but even _**that’s**_ cutting it close.”

 

“But we’re in zero gravity right now aren’t we? I mean, not right now because we’re still sitting but…you know, we’re surrounded by it.” Cale musters questionably, again looking between his friend and the higher officer. Maine shakes his head again before grabbing onto the large metallic shells that were slightly above his head that housed more screens, leaning forward a little but holding himself up by the screen protectors.

 

“We’re _**in**_ zero gravity now, yes, but this ship has a gravity control feature and so we don’t have to worry about being exposed too much to zero gravity and having our bones and muscles turn to soup. Especially after being out on the field for three days.” Maine said frowning more than he usually does, then tsks under his breath as he quickly turns and heads to one of the smaller one person sized rooms in the hall. “Well, someone’s gotta go down there. I gotta make a telecom right now so I can’t.”

 

“You really can’t just make the call and head back down--?” Sun-Hi huffs in aggravation when the giant metallic doors close behind Maine, leaving their conversation completely. The young female groans, putting the data and information she was sharing with Cale in their debriefing into a small slot on the terminal’s surface and letting the data transfer. “The real reason why he won’t go down there is ‘cause he’s gotta go call his higher up—who’s pretty much her father and if he finds out that his daughter is down in the dumps on this mission then dung’s gonna hit the fan…”

 

“I’ll go get her, then.” Cale offered standing up from his seat and he stops just after a few steps to grab hold of the small bright orange railings in the one-person hallway. “I can reach her from the lift right?”

 

“Yeah, you can’t miss it it’s literally a ‘zero’ floor, so press that.” Sun-Hi explained over the gelert’s shoulder as he turned on his heel to the door at the end of the short hallway. He was still used to going onto stairs to reach places, or back in Neopia when he would have to climb the sides of buildings to enter through windows, but he’ll admit that elevator lifts were kind of cool and very useful. Just a button’s press and he can be on the floor he wants to be on, there were other things that amazed him too all the way up here in Kreludor, but still, he refused to say it aloud. It would be even cooler if he can share this sort of experience with…..

 

The elevator slowed down to almost a crawl when it got to the first floor and a small light blinked just above the door, brightening the shaft with an eerie blue color. Cale rose a confused brow at it and took notice of the screen on the door’s face that blinked in unison before turning on completely. _'Zero Gravity floor reach in 3….2…..1’_ At an instant it reached one Cale’s feet rose from the ground, he told his body to relax and he eased himself so that he was at a sitting upright position. He remembered his _tier one_ training, being cautious at zero gravity and learning how to time things just right and keep yourself up so you won’t bump into everything or be stuck doggy paddling in one spot.

 

Cale took a deep breath again and when the doors opened he used his foot to kick off the wall behind him and slowly propel his body through the now open doors. Floor zero was a small room height wise, the ceiling felt closer then everywhere else on the ship did, but it was long. Almost as long as three or four rooms and Cale knew it was because it’s the length of the entire ship. Off to the side, near an open window was a female grundo with a brown bob for hair and wearing a light blue, black and red jumpsuit floating close to the windows. She stared out them looking over the small bits of meteorites and space debris. Cale could hear something when he was getting closer, a voice, when he grabbed at one of the control panels on the side next to the elevator door he noticed that there was something in her hands and a hologram in front of her face. He barely saw it because it was so translucent, the voice from the transmission was clear as though whoever was speaking was there with them.

 

Or, singing, actually.

 

And soon the female grundo began to sing softly along with the male from the hologram, looking at nowhere else then the dark void outside their ship.

 

“ _Take me to the place I found you, I’m so lost without you. I’ll be here as long as it takes…..I won’t run away.”_

 

“Jam?”

 

“Eeep!!” The female grundo gasped in legitimate shock, flailing her arms around in the air and almost flipping herself upside down from moving so much, her grasp was lost on the little trinket she held so instead of it softly drifting through the air it sped across towards the other side of the room. Lucky for Cale it happened to be coming in his direction and it was nothing but second nature for him to catch the small object in mid flight, he took a peek realizing that the hologram was still playing and on it’s transparent screen was an image of a young bruce playing an instrument. The song he sang was the same as the one Jam was singing to, at least it had to be because he came across the same words. “Cale? Geeze, you scared the starlight outta me.” she breathed placing a hand to her chest to stop her quickened heart, she can see the puzzled expression on the slightly older gelert’s face and failed to resist the urge to cough nervously. “Oh, uh, that…that’s mine.”

 

“I see.” Cale began slowly as he gave the little piece of technology another confused glance, he had no idea how to turn this hologram thing off for her and so he just lobbed it gently so that it floated back. The flustered looking grundo caught it with no trouble and began to press a button or two on it to turn it off. He was only sent to get her back to the main floor but the look that was in her eye when he found her staring out into space, it wasn’t the usual bright eyed gaze that he usually saw in her eyes whenever she rambled about anything and everything related to space or science. Or anything else she found interesting, actually.Right now she just didn’t seem like herself and even though she looks almost completely normal he can see the glossiness of her eyes still there as if the tears were threatening to come out. He wasn’t one to talk about feelings, especially not to people he hardly knew but it bugged him, a _**lot**_. Jam was one of the first people he met here on Kreludor and she was always so bubbly and optimistic, it wasn’t normal to see her so distraught, or bothered. “Are...are you alright?” he didn’t expect her to be honest, surely he wouldn’t be if anyone else asked and he didn’t feel up to talking.

 

“Yeah.”

 

See?

 

“Uh huh.” Cale’s tone was anything but convinced at her answer, he kicked the box that was tied to the ground so he can get a little closer and get a better look at her and the black endless void outside that was speckled with stars, craters and other debris. Jam on the other hand turned her attention back to the little item in her hand then retreated her gaze back out the window to avoid Cale’s glance. “If you are then why are you down here?”

 

“It makes everything stop hurting.” her tone was deep and oddly more pessimistic then it usually was, she crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her legs up as if to keep it propped up on some invisible foot rest, her knees bent at a casual angle and her feet crossed over at the ankles making Cale realize that she wasn’t wearing any footwear other then some multicolored socks that obviously didn’t belong together. With a sigh Jam turns her head to look at Cale again, a small smile on her face but it was obvious with her slanted brows that it was forced. “You know, it takes the pressure off of your joints and stuff. It’s good for my knee and back.”

 

“Yeah, well, from what I heard you’re not supposed to be down here for more than fifteen minutes a day. It could...turn you into soup or something gross like that.”

 

“Well then it’s a good thing that I haven’t been down here in a week. That’s–what?–an hour and fifteen minutes I can be down here by myself.” Cale crosses his arms now and his gaze doesn’t leave her, the grundo knows she’s in for it now and so stops her excuse making, if she was sitting on some normal gravity sitting then it would be obvious that she’s shifting in her seat, but now it looks like she did some weird small wiggle in the air.

 

“Then why do you want to be alone down here?” Jam blows some air and fumbles with her jumpsuit’s sleeve, frustrated at the notion that he’s wanting answers and will more than likely find out anyways she throws her hands up in defeat.

 

“Fine, I’m waiting for someone.”

 

“Who?” she doesn’t answer. Not at first. Instead she takes the little item in her hand and turns it on, a few different pictures and videos flash in the hologram that Cale’s recognized, Maine, Sun-Hi, other people they’ve worked with, the two different garages on Kreludor and the stores she’s worked in. But then she stops at the recording she watched at first, immediately skips it after it begins to play the first few seconds and brings up a photo before tossing the key-chain sized item back. When Cale catches it he sees that it’s a picture of her with her arm around a young lost desert Bruce, slightly closer to his age then to Jam’s and they’re both smiling at what looks like in Terror Mountain with the mountains in the background. He’s surprised, he didn’t even know that she’s been to Neopia let alone Terror Mountain, he thought she was a native from Kreludor and space.

 

“ _Him_.” she finally answers once seeing that Cale is observing the hologram more closely, he finally asks then: _'who is he?’_. “Connor–I mean, C.T. He’s also known as Agent Connecticut.” The grundo laughs a little as she waves her hand in the air, “But he insists that was a mouthful, so C.T stuck. That, Skipper, Captain—he goes by many titles around here.”

 

“I take it that things are not strictly professional between you two.” Cale says with a teasing grin on his muzzle and she raises a brow at him, a small smirk tugging at her lips as well while she forces another—much more faked—laugh.

 

“Gee, how could you guess? He’s my husband of five years.” her tone is painfully sarcastic, but he knows it’s because she’s frustrated at the fact that she’s shared so much with him. He’s felt that feeling before but, he can’t help but tease her a little more just so—because he’s just that kind of guy.

 

“Is he?”

 

“Oh Sloth no, I was joking.” her demeanor returns to something close to professional but realizing the joke and the way that the blue gelert is still watching her with that cocky grin on his muzzle she just can’t help but get even more embarrassed. At that moment as well Cale then realizes that there would be no way for her to joke about something like that if Connor was there with them. Jam stammers some vowels trying to make an excuse of some kind, wanting to repair what it was she said but she can’t think of anything else.“Don’t you _**dare**_ tell anyone I said that. Or—or go ahead by saying that I’m upset about all of this—I _**mean**_ it Cale.”

 

“I won’t, I won’t.” Cale grins raising his hands in a mock surrender. He looks at the photo again, taking in the sight of the two looking so happy together and it makes him think, or, maybe even remember something that is also troubling him but he won’t admit it so easily. “But I’m going to guess that he’s a good friend of yours, have I met him?” He lets the item hang in the air and then taps it so it can slowly drift back, this time when Jam grabs the key chain looking item she immediately stuffs it into her pocket after a click to turn it off.

 

“No, if you have then you’d remember him. He’s that kind of guy who’s hard to forget, in a good way I like to think.” Jam gets silent for a moment and then laughs softly, “He’s a leader type. He knows exactly what to do when a situation arises and he’s got guts of steel. He’s smart and funny and sometimes when you make him laugh hard enough you can hear his accent, it’s quite funny. He insists over and over that he doesn’t have one but let’s be honest, it’s still pretty cute.” her eyes, which stared through everything in front of her finally came back and looked up realizing that Cale was watching her still. Jam coughs again in anxiousness, unsure if the smile on his face was something to mock her or just an adoring one. “Uh, he…he’s taught me a little bit of how to fight, and then about the stars, how to fire a blaster too. And we took a trip to Terror Mountain together because we love the snow. Y'know, just, stuff like that.”

 

“What happened to him?” He was almost afraid to ask but if Jam was still waiting for him then it could be that he was still somewhere out there right? Sure enough, the young grundo answered that he had gone on an important scouting mission to the edge of the asteroid belt and it’s been almost three months since they’ve spoke together. “He didn’t send anything? No–message, or something?”

 

“The edge of the belt has shaky communications because there’s not a beacon out there yet. I think one of the few reasons why he was sent there with a team was to plant a beacon and see how long, and far, it can carry a transmission and we promised to send each other a message whenever we get in the same vicinity.” Jam said shrugging her shoulders in mid thought, “He works with Sun-Hi yes, but, he works for the Kreludor military so he’s sent on missions like these all the time. Usually it’s not a problem because I’ve worked with him, but, this was strictly 'authorized personnel only’ and he told me that it was fine and I should stay behind. It’s kinda hard, we’ve known each other for so long that it’s hard to remember what life was like before meeting him, y'know?” her demeanor changes, yet again, to something a little more humble and she hurriedly taps her hands against his shoulder to some unknown beat. “I shouldn’t be saying anything though, you probably have, like, a TON of friends at home that you miss. And you’ve been up here for five months, dude.”

 

“Well, I _do_ have some friends I miss but…” Cale slowly began chewing on his bottom lip gently, he had friends back in the guild but it wasn’t them that he was wondering a lot about. His eyes made a quick glance to the elevator door, not sure if anyone was going to come down to look for them both but the door didn’t open, nor did it sound like anyone was trying to contact them on their coms he decided it was alright to share. Especially since she’s shared so much about Connor he felt that it was only fair that he’d be a little truthful with her, “Just, one friend in particular, I miss more than the rest.” Jam nods slowly, leaning over and crossing her legs almost in a pretzel so she can rest her chin in her hands and listen attentively, with a sigh of defeat he continues. “He’s a very good friend of mine, he knew I was coming up here to Kreludor and he wasn’t against it but…I can’t help but worry how he’s doing. So, I guess that means that we’re in the same boat.” Cale laughs a little pretending to look around the room in a single motion, “Or, ship rather.” Jam smiles at the space pun, knowing that he’s trying to lift the atmosphere.

 

“You can still contact him though, you can send him a letter.” ok, now she can’t control her eye rolling after the gelert looks at her with pure surprise smoothing out his handsome features, “Yeah, I know, paper still exists up here–oh my gosh–how creepy.”

 

“ _ **Enough**_.” he scolds giving her a little shove by the arm and they both can’t control their laughter when she spins in a perfect circle in the same spot she sat in. After a few hysterical minutes hey stifle their giggles and chortles a little more so they can remain in silence, but Cale is definitely thinking about the offer, anything so he can get back in contact with his friend again. “What…what should I send him? I mean it took me five months before I got to understand any of this stuff and sometimes I still don’t get it. He’s smart but I’m pretty sure he’s never come across or even heard anything near as advanced as this. It might be...overwhelming for him, and I think it might be a little overwhelming for me as well just trying to explain all of this to him.”

 

“My advice? Keep it basic.” Jam says spinning around in another, much slower circle, she’s tapping her chin in thought and finally when she comes back around to make a third circle she stops herself by grabbing onto the window’s ledge. “So like–tell him that you’ve been on Kreludor, you’ve seen what Neopia looks like from above the clouds, what does it look like to you? Tell him how much you miss hanging out with him, how you miss the smell of grass and rain in the morning. Tell him that you lived in a giant metal can and no matter what time it is it’s dark as night, oh, _candles_ , if you liked candles tell him how you feel about not having candles. I know I miss incense sometimes.”

 

“I heard you were a writer in your spare time but that sounds a little too specific for it to be just 'writers ramble’.” Cale cuts off raising a questionable brow, “Did you live on Neopia? I was sure that you lived in space all your life since you’re so passionate about it and talk about it so much.” the young grundo laughs, hard enough that she immediately tries to cover her mouth and muffle the laughter but it doesn’t work as embarrassed, and flattered, snorts slip in between through her fingers. Laughing was just a coping mechanism for her.

 

“That’s very flattering that you think I’ve always lived up here, thanks.” she began resting both of her arms on her still crossed legs, “I did live on Neopia, my family and I lived in a small little provence, you can say, it’s a tiny-tiny-tiny island near Mystery Island. Then, my family moved to Terror Mountain, then to the Lost Desert, and then here I am now in space–” she pauses, waving her arm in front of her as if paining a small horizon. “–the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enter–”

 

_< <“Jam!”>>_

 

The two pets looked around the room hurriedly at the sudden noise and then their bodies slowly relaxed when they realized that it was the intercom that had turned on and spoke. Cale had an excused as to why he wasn’t used to the intercom yet but it was still kind of funny how Jam still jolted in a cartoony fashion at the box in the corner speaking. Telling from the upset, deep tone it sounded like Maine was on the other line. _< <“Did Cale come down?”>>_

 

“Yeah!” Jam yelled back, looking around so she can see if there was a camera he was watching them from, she didn’t see it and so at the moment gave up on the search to locate it. Cale however looked around too, having a really good feeling that he knew what she was looking for, when his eye caught glimpse of a small black circle in one the far corner he tapped on her shoulder and pointed over. She looked and nodded him a thanks, there was the camera, she straightened her legs and kicked off the wall so she can float closer and be in the camera’s view. “Cale and I were just talking about a few things, we’re coming up now.”

 

_< <“About time, do you have any idea what damage you can be doing to yourself for being down there for so long? I swear if you keep pulling stunts like these—”>> _

 

“And do you know that I really don’t care? Honestly? It’s only just a little trip to floor zero it’s not like I’m ejecting myself into space.”

 

 _< <“You’re on my ship, so you bide to my rules. Do you understand that--”>>_ the voice in the intercom slowly fades to nothing but it looks like, to Cale at least, it’s because Jam looks straight into the camera and with her hand makes a very, very unfriendly gesture. which is clear that he saw from wherever it is he was watching them from. There’s silence, the rumbling of the ship being the only form of noise that lingers in the slightly colder atmosphere before the lenny decides to comment a second time. _< <“……when you come up here you’re not going to leave my __**sight**_ _, this_ _ **ship**_ _, or this_ _ **room**_ _. Not even when we dock. You are so_ _ **dead**_ _Jam, you hear me?_ _ **D.E.A.D. Dead.**_ _” >> _Jam doesn’t take it as a threat, she laughs, flying through the room backwards and making a few small backstrokes so she can pass Cale and go towards the elevator,

 

“He’s just joking.”

 

_< <“I like to see you think that when you come up here and face me, chika.”>>_

 

“All talk Maine! You’re just all talk!” she yells playfully pressing the button on the elevator door to open it and she lets Cale float in first before she does, and close the door behind her. Cale is just watching the whole thing take place, it sounded like Maine was serious and he was puzzled as to why she wasn’t so worried about all this. And though Jam clearly sees her friend’s puzzled face she doesn’t comment on anything else, instead she just shares a softer smile with him and pats him on the shoulder firmly with both hands. “Can I tell you something Cale?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“I think your friend is doing just fine, and if you want I can help you write a letter to him and send it. That way it wouldn’t sound that crazy when you send it to him.” The young gelert grins back, it’s genuine this time,not like the usual dung eating grin that he usually makes,

 

“I’d like that, thanks Jam….also I think Connor’s going to be just fine. I mean, you got more things to worry about.” Cale said pointing with his thumb to the ceiling as if to motion to Maine who was aggravatingly waiting for them, Jam laughs again, the small sparkle back in her eyes and she’s looking just like her normal self. It’s a relief, and everything is starting to feel good again.

 

“Yeah. Um, thanks by the way. For that and for talking to me.” she wasn’t ready for the little playful push that Cale gave her shoulder but she immediately pushed him back before pressing the button to get back to the main control room, even though the two of them got silent it was all for the sake of reminisce over their own thoughts. For Cale, his life he’s had back on Neopia and he many letters he will come to write. And for Jam, about her close friend across the belt doing who-knows-what at that exact moment, hoping that he misses her just as much as she misses him.

 


End file.
